What Is the International Monetary Fund? - the JVI eCampus!

- 21 -
Complementing the work of the IMF have been the efforts of the BIS, World Bank, and
other standard-setting agencies, which have been working on international standards in such
areas as accounting and auditing, bankruptcy, corporate governance, securities market
regulation, and payment and settlement systems.
To help countries assess their own compliance, IMF staff, in conjunction with the respective
governments, began in 1999 to prepare experimental country reports on countries'
observance of standards and codes, focusing mainly on areas of direct operational concern to
the IMF. Several countries have chosen to publish these reports.
Encouraging openness and publication of data
The publication of up-to-date and reliable data—as well as information about countries'
economic and financial policies, practices, and decision- making—is needed to help
investors make informed judgments and for markets to operate efficiently and smoothly.
In the wake of the Mexican crisis of 1994-95, the IMF in 1996 developed a special data
dissemination standard (SDDS) to guide countries that have, or that might seek, access to
international capital markets in the dissemination of economic and financial data to the
public. Subscribing countries agree to publish detailed national economic and financial data,
including data on international reserves and external debt, on an announced schedule. A
general data dissemination system (GDDS) was established in 1997 to guide countries that
are not yet in a position to subscribe to the SDDS and need to improve their statistical
systems.
IMF transparency and accountability
Improved provision of information to the markets and the broader public is a central element
of the reform of the international financial system. It is also a cornerstone of the recent and
continuing reform of the IMF itself.
Transparency, on the part of IMF member countries and the IMF, helps foster better
economic performance in several ways. Greater openness by member countries encourages
more widespread and better informed analysis of their policies by the public; enhances the
accountability of policymakers and the credibility of policies; and informs financial markets
so that they can function in a more orderly and efficient manner. Greater openness and
clarity by the IMF about its own policies, and the advice it gives members, contribute to a
more informed policy debate and to a better understanding of the IMF's role and operations.
By exposing its advice to public scrutiny and debate, the IMF can also help raise the level of
its analysis.
Since the mid-1990s, the IMF has vastly increased the volume of information it publishes—
on its own activities and policies, and on those of its member countries—particularly on its
website. Public Information Notices, for example, which were released at the conclusion of
Article IV consultations with about 80 percent of member countries in 1999-2000,
summarize the Executive Board discussion and provide background to the consultation.
Letters of intent are also released by the governments concerned in about 80 percent of
program cases. In April 1999, the Executive Board initiated a pilot project for the voluntary